L’Initial celebrations on second anniversary

 

To celebrate the second anniversary of L'Initial, a retirement residence in Aylmer, Tony Baisas, an internationally renowned ice sculptor, was hired to create this sculpture. A "fun photo with the sculpture" contest was held and this image won. The prize was a special Valentine's Day dinner prepared by L'Initial's chef.

 

These two courageous residents braved the cold to carry out their idea. They spent nearly two frustrating hours in -19° weather, with a wind chill of -28°. At first, they used a remote control on the camera, but the remote batteries froze. Then, they tried the camera's self timer, but it failed to work properly, too. The two kept running inside to warm themselves and the camera batteries. But, by the time Adrienne had set up her camera on the tripod and then taken her position with the sculpture, the batteries would be frozen again.

 

Eventually, neighbour Grégoire Gagnon, also a resident, who had been watching from his apartment, came to their rescue and hand-held the camera for this shot. The two had a memorable time and their freezing fingers stopped stinging after a day or two.

 

The idea behind Elisabeth's bathing suit was that she would rather be in Florida where she usually spends her winter. With her bathing suit, sunglasses and suitcase she is ready to go!  Adrienne, is dressed ready for a party, which of course could not happen! The wind was too gusty to light the candles on the cake. The candle flames were borrowed from the Internet and inserted into the photo later. (BA)